Madrid, seven points clear in La Liga, would appear favourites for the title for the first time this season as Barcelona continue to drop silly points in the league, though they are still a considerably better team than Real.
For Mourinho, he has set his sights on England again. Probably because it is where his ego will be massaged the most. In Italy, the media didn’t care much for his “I’m special” attitude and he was soon gone. In Spain, he isn’t treated as a deity, and has found at Real Madrid a club full of World Cup winners who won’t worship him as the second coming.
In England though, Mourinho can call upon his gold like status among a fawning media to assuage his desire for constant praise. Is this why the Portuguese is setting his sights on returning to our league? Probably. But the question begs asking – is he a quitter? He left Porto just after winning the Champions League, taking their best players with him to Chelsea. At Chelsea following a double league title success he was soon out of the door again, and since his departure they have struggled to replace the team he put together as they try and restore some credibility to their balance sheet.
Inter Milan had a similar problem. After Mourinho turned them into Champions League winners, he left promptly, and the team they had has taken some dismantling as they struggled financially.
Now at Real, he has built a team and is threatening to quit. It all sounds rather reminiscent of another manager, one whom he could in theory replace if he comes back to England.
Harry Redknapp. Redknapp too has a ‘scorched earth’ approach to the game. Go to a club who have lots of money to spend. Spend it all on players from former teams and other big names. Achieve short term success. Leave club in financial ruin.
The path both of these managers take is remarkably similar in that sense. Undoubtedly both are superb man managers, able to get the best out of their players, with philosophies though contrasting, that are clearly defined.
But is Mourinho just Redknapp with tactical sense and a winner’s mentality? Sure those are two pretty big things, but the way in which both run from job to job, choosing the most promising moment to join a club and the most troublesome one to leave, appears contrived and cleverly managed. What if either stayed in a job for as long as Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson?
We’ll probably never know. But Mourinho will leave that question mark – and he has not built a dynasty at any club he has managed so far – he only achieved short term success. Whether Mourinho has what it takes to take a team apart, and maybe even cope without having money to spend, is open to speculation – and these are the same questions many will ask of Redknapp.
